International Adoption often includes traveling to far off countries with upside down time tables.You know what I mean. China for instance is 12 or 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.The good people of your adoption agency understand this. Acclimation is one of the (best) reasons that they schedule a few days in Beijing before you go to your baby’s capital city. If you decide to travel to Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan, the same could easily apply.
While you are spending 2 weeks in China getting to know your new baby, the excitement builds at home.When we went, we literally had a few thousand hits to our blog while we were gone.We also had a gallery on the site and uploaded about 100 pictures while we were overseas.Then the scary thing started to happen. We
started to get emails from family and friends telling us that they were looking forward to seeing us after we got home. They were even proposing dates to do so.The excitement of the moment clearly clouded their thinking as many of these messages mentioned the week that we got home as “good” meeting times.At the
time, even my wife and I did not appreciate the magnitude of the problem.We added additional stress to our situation that we could have prevented with George-Bush-style preemptive measures.
As
a soon-to-be-dad you will be confronted with some terms that are
confusing, strange, and downright-alien. Never fear! Like Frank and
Buster of the Koala Brothers, "We're here to help!" I am proud to
present the fourth installment of the Predad Dictionary. For this
installment, we will concentrate on names of medical staff that you
will come across. These people will be prodding your wife and looking
into their holiest of holy places, make sure you know they are legit. Read the rest of this entry »
As
a dad-to-be you will be confronted with some terms that are confusing,
strange, and downright-alien. Never fear! Like Frank and Buster of the
Koala Brothers, "We're here to help!" Study them pre-dads. You will be
exposed to these terms, and knowledge of them will earn you some
serious points with the wife.
I am proud to present the third installment of the Predad Dictionary.
For this installment, we will concentrate on terms pertaining to tests
and checkpoints during pregnancy. Basically any thing that involves a
needle, a vial, or a machine touching your wife can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
I
had a buddy in high school who hated to puke. When I first met him, he
told me he had only puked twice in his life and he never wanted to
experience it again. I told him, anyone who is normal, does not ever
want to puke but that's life. Well, after a late night dare of whether
he could drink a gallon of milk in an hour went terribly wrong, he
changed his tune. In fact, after puking his brains out for over an
hour, he realized he had a knack for this regurgitation thing. And
thus, "Puke Boy" was formed. Puke Boy was now able (and willing) to
puke on demand. Anytime, anywhere. And he did. Anytime and anywhere he
was provoked. Read the rest of this entry »
As a soon-to-be-dad you will be confronted with some terms that are confusing, strange, and downright-alien. Never fear! Like Frank and Buster of the Koala Brothers, "We"re here to help!" Study them pre-dads. You will be exposed to these terms, and knowledge of them will earn you some serious points with the wife.
I am proud to present the second installment of the Predad Dictionary. For this installment, we will concentrate on terms pertaining to items you may receive as gifts or you may purchase yourself. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the first things you will hear after the birth of your kid, is the APGAR score. This will be called out by the delivery nurse after you hear your kid"s first cry, after you hear your wife sobbing and before you start calling your family telling them the good news.
The word rhymes with Ackbar but is of no relation to the brilliant Mon Calamari commander of the Rebel Fleet, Admiral Ackbar. APGAR is an acronym for Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance, and Respiration. Basically, your kid will be tested at 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth and it gives the medical staff an idea of how well your kid is doing. Each of the 5 scores are generated from the following standard: Read the rest of this entry »
As a member of the international adoption community, nothing burns me up more than a parent who thinks that just because the kid is now under their care and becomes their child, they immediately relinquish their original nationality. “She"s an American now!”
I often wonder if this is the kind of selfishness that leads to tweens and teenagers full of identity crises, senses of loss and resentment. Some people have video cameras and do not use them on their adoption day sighting that they probably will not watch them. When you become a dad, it is no longer all about you. Your daughter or son will want to watch that video. You already know that a lot of your soon-to-be son or daughter’s past is a puzzle, you should want to help them fill in as much of that puzzle as possible. Kids are extremely inquisitive. Their brains are like little sponges that suck up every drop of knowledge they possibly can. And they do love to ask questions.
As a soon-to-be-dad you will be confronted with some terms that are confusing, strange, and downright-alien. Never fear! Like Frank and Buster of the Koala Brothers, "We"re here to help!" Study them pre-dads. You will be exposed to these terms, and knowledge of them will earn you some serious points with the wife. I am proud to present the first installment of the Predad Dictionary. For this installment, we will concentrate on terms pertaining to the vaginal area. Some of these terms are gruesome but better you hear it from me than discovering it for yourself. Read the rest of this entry »
Taking paternity leave is a decision some noodads find
difficult. What isn't difficult is seeing the benefits taking a
paternity leave can have. But when demands of a job, a mortgage or
rent, and family life get involved, it could get your head spinning.
That is why, once again, noodad.com is here to help. Following are
answers to some popular questions about paternity leave: Read the rest of this entry »
This article should serve as either a warning, a hard slap-in-the-face wake up call, or reassurance that you are doing the right thing. Co-sleeping is a plague that is sweeping the world, ready to take out every desperate couple in their path. For those who need to know, co-sleeping is the term given to children who sleep in the same bed as their parents. It is a dangerous situation physically, and socially. The only way to prevent it, is to never start it. The only way to stop it is to grow a pair, deal with your child"s weaning process, and quit it cold turkey. Read the rest of this entry »
International Adoption often includes traveling to far off countries with upside down time tables. You know what I mean. China for instance is 12 or 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The good people of your adoption agency understand this. Acclimation is one of the (best) reasons that they schedule a few days in Beijing before you go to your baby’s capital city. If you decide to travel to Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan, the same could easily apply.
As
As
I
As a soon-to-be-dad you will be confronted with some terms that are confusing, strange, and downright-alien. Never fear! Like Frank and Buster of the Koala Brothers, "We"re here to help!" Study them pre-dads. You will be exposed to these terms, and knowledge of them will earn you some serious points with the wife. 
One of the first things you will hear after the birth of your kid, is the APGAR score. This will be called out by the delivery nurse after you hear your kid"s first cry, after you hear your wife sobbing and before you start calling your family telling them the good news.
As a member of the international adoption community, nothing burns me up more than a parent who thinks that just because the kid is now under their care and becomes their child, they immediately relinquish their original nationality. “She"s an American now!”
As a soon-to-be-dad you will be confronted with some terms that are confusing, strange, and downright-alien. Never fear! Like Frank and Buster of the Koala Brothers, "We"re here to help!" Study them pre-dads. You will be exposed to these terms, and knowledge of them will earn you some serious points with the wife. I am proud to present the first installment of the Predad Dictionary. For this installment, we will concentrate on terms pertaining to the vaginal area. Some of these terms are gruesome but better you hear it from me than discovering it for yourself. 
Taking paternity leave is a decision some noodads find
This article should serve as either a warning, a hard slap-in-the-face wake up call, or reassurance that you are doing the right thing. Co-sleeping is a plague that is sweeping the world, ready to take out every desperate couple in their path. For those who need to know, co-sleeping is the term given to children who sleep in the same bed as their parents. It is a dangerous situation physically, and socially. The only way to prevent it, is to never start it. The only way to stop it is to grow a pair, deal with your child"s weaning process, and quit it cold turkey. 
